Share This Article:

Tarpons roll Miller-McCoy, Trojans struggle against Belle Chasse

Tarpons roll Miller-McCoy, Trojans struggle against Belle Chasse

Anything the Miller-McCoy football team could do, South Lafourche could do it better on Friday night at the annual South Lafourche jamboree.

Never was this more evident than during the end of the first half played between the teams.

With the Tarpons leading 14-0 in the final minutes of the opening half, Miller McCoy standout Gerald Edwards took a kickoff 75 yards to the end zone to cut the Tarpons’ lead to 14-6.

But when McCoy kicked the ball back to the Tarpons, South Lafourche one-upped their foe, as Harvey Allen took the kick and ran it 80 yards for a score. It was a touchdown that served as the icing on the cake for South Lafourche’s 27-12 win – a victory filled with lots of positives and negatives, according to Tarpons coach Dennis Skains.

“I thought that we played pretty well,” Skains said following the game. “There were some breakdowns and some mistakes, but other than that, we thought the kids started fast, which is something we emphasized throughout the week. We loved their effort and were happy with a lot of things, but we know that we have to get back to work and continue to improve in all areas.”

For the Tarpons, the early minutes of the jamboree were arguably their most dominant. South Lafourche struck first in the game, driving the ball 53 yards on nine plays – a drive capped with a four-yard touchdown run from senior halfback Sean Bouzigard. Benjamin Reaux’s successful extra point lifted the score to 7-0.

After forcing a turnover later in the opening half, the Tarpons’ offense got back to work when senior Justin Doucet took a jet sweep to the end zone to make the game 14-0.

After Doucet’s score is when McCoy got their only points of the opening half on the 75-yard kickoff return from Edwards, which was matched by Allen’s return to make the score 21-6.

That lead ballooned even more in the final seconds of the half when junior safety Larry Mack intercepted Lions quarterback Melvin Johnson and took the ball 32 yards into the end zone to make the score 27-6.
Throughout the game, the Tarpons generated pressure with their massive front-7, which led to the Lions’ offense being discombobulated throughout the jamboree.

Skains said the defense’s effort was a high point in the evening.

“We showed flashes of greatness there,” Skains said. “We have to work on some things and clean up a lot of the mistakes that we made, because it was far from perfect. But as a coach, when you see those flashes, it’s always promising, because you know that it exists and you know the potential that’s there. We’re going to keep working with them and try and get a few guys some more experience to get everyone ready for the start of the season.”

In the second half, the action slowed down as both teams mixed in a lot of backups to prevent injury on the sloppy, soggy field in Galliano. Miller-McCoy scored the only points in the final 15 minutes on a 4-yard touchdown run by Alexander Formen – a score set up by a Tarpons’ turnover.

With the jamboree win under its belts, South Lafourche will now look forward to week one of the season. The Tarpons will travel to play Landry-Walker on Friday night in a game that might be the toughest of the season for South Lafourche.

Landry-Walker defeated the Tarpons 7-0 last season and are expected to be among the best teams in Louisiana for Class 4A.

“It’ll be a challenge. They have loads of athletes,” Skains said. “We need to put in a good week of practice and get better every day so we can be prepared to win in what will be a challenging environment.”

Trojans stumble, fall against Belle Chasse

While the Tarpons look to build on Friday night’s solid showing, the tone was completely different for the Central Lafourche Trojans, who fell 22-0 to Belle Chasse in the opening game of the wet, rainy night.

After the game, Trojans coach Keith Menard said he was left scratching his head and wondering why his team can’t take their A-game to the playing field.

“I’m disappointed,” Menard said. “There’s no question I’m disappointed. I thought we had two great weeks of practice and then we came out and we played like this. I don’t have an answer for that. The good news is we start fresh. We’re 0-0, and we have a week to fix our mistakes.”

Self-inflicted wounds are what crushed the Trojans in Friday night’s game.

Central Lafourche forced four turnovers throughout the 30 minutes of play between the teams. But a litany of pre-snap penalties, missed blocking assignments and three turnovers of their own kept the Trojans from scoring in the game.

On the other side of the field, missed tackles and busted coverages allowed Belle Chasse to put the ball into the end zone three times.

The final score of the game for Belle Chasse came when the Cardinals blocked a Central Lafourche punt and took it in for a score to make the game 20-0.

A successful 2-point conversion brought the game to its final tally of 22-0.

The Trojans open the season on Friday night at home against Franklin. Menard said he knows his team’s effort has to be better for the Trojans to win.

The coach admitted that it’d be hard for the team to play much worse than it did on Friday.

“It’s all up-hill from here,” Menard said. “The good news is we played pretty bad in the jamboree last year and then came out and played a good first game to start the season. So we’re going to get back on the practice field and look to do the same thing this time around.”

Central Lafourche players celebrate a recovered fumble during the Trojans’ game against Belle Chasse Friday night in Galliano.
The regular high school football season begins Friday as South Lafourche travels to Landry-Walker and Central Lafourche hosts Franklin.